


Had Me a Blast

by thundercaya



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Babysitting, Day At The Beach, F/M, Summer Vacation, Teenagers, Treasure Hunting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-14 19:04:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14775446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thundercaya/pseuds/thundercaya
Summary: Summer heat, boy and girl meet





	Had Me a Blast

James Madison supposed he might be the only person in the world who didn’t like going on vacation. He was certainly the only person in his family who didn’t. Some vacations were necessarily worse than others, but while he was glad he wouldn’t have to worry about freezing to death like on their winter trip to the mountains, James was still not enjoying his week at the beach.

James was seated in a beach chair with a useless umbrella attachment that was currently shading a spot a couple feet away from the chair. He was wearing swimming trunks only because he knew his family would mock him if he wore pants to the beach, but he also had a t-shirt on, and no intention of getting in the water. Instead he was penning a letter to his best friend, Thomas Jefferson. He could do this just as well in the hotel but his parents refused to leave him there, as if that were the worst way he could spend the vacation. At least he wasn’t trying to sneak off with older boys and get drunk like Frank did on their spring getaway.

A shadow fell over James and his first thought was that it was one of his siblings, but when he looked up instead he saw a girl around his age in a sport swimsuit, a cover up tied around her waist.

“Hi,” she said. “Can I borrow your pen when you’re done with it?”

“Uh, sure,” James said, hoping she wasn’t going to do something like write her number on his arm. “Give me a minute.” He finished up the letter then handed over the pen.

“Thanks!” the girl said. She took the pen over to a nearby picnic table where she began drawing on a beach resort brochure.

James stood up from his chair and headed over to her.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m making a treasure map for a bunch of kids that look like you. Your brothers and sisters?”

James glanced over his shoulder to where the other kids were playing at the edge of the water.

“Yeah,” he confirmed. “You don’t have to do that, though. If they’re bothering you I can tell them to leave you alone.”

“It’s no bother,” the girl insisted. “It sounds like fun, doesn’t it?”

James supposed that at one time he would have enjoyed a game like that. “I guess.”

The girl smiled at him. “Glad to hear that! I need you to hide the treasure.”

“What?”

“This map is going to take a while. I’m sure they’ll be eager to start by the time I’m finished. So you need to go hide the treasure.”

“What treasure? Hide it where?”

“Some pretty shells, I guess. Some good rocks. I’m sure you can find them. And I’m putting the X behind the third lifeguard tower, so bury them there.”

“Hold on, I can’t bury them behind a lifeguard tower. The lifeguard will see me.”

“So?” the girl shrugged. “It’s not illegal.”

“What if he asks me what I’m doing?”

“Tell him?”

James had no response for that, just like he had no idea how this girl he’d just met had roped him into her plan without even exchanging a proper introduction.

“What’s your name?” James asked finally.

“Dolley. And the little you’s said your name is Jimmy.”

“Ignore them. It’s James.”

  


Finding the shells was more of an ordeal than James was hoping. There weren’t very many good ones in the dry sand so he had to get his feet wet. He kept checking over his shoulder to make sure none of his siblings were sneaking up on him, but they seemed to be entertaining themselves by burying Ambrose near Dolley’s picnic bench and pestering her about when the map would be ready.

Once James had gotten a decent haul, he made his way over to the selected lifeguard tower. He hoped none of his siblings would see him burying the treasure, but then again the final location would be obvious enough once they had the map in front of them, and clearly the journey was more important to the kids than the destination, or else why bother Dolley for a map at all? When James arrived back at table, she had already finished up.

“Is it ready?” Nelly asked, holding the map. “Can we go?”

“Yeah,” James said. “Go ahead.”

The kids took off immediately with the exception of Frank.

“Well?” James asked “What are you waiting for?” He was hoping to talk to Dolley.

“I’m not doing a stupid fake treasure hunt. I know you put the shells behind the lifeguard tower.”

“Well, you’re the only one old enough to look after Billy, so you have to go anyway.”

“You’re old enough, too.”

“I have to watch our bags. Just go with the kids or I’ll tell dad you made up botany club so you could hang out with the stoners after school.”

Frank bristled, then Dolley put a hand on each of their shoulders. “Why don’t we all go?” she suggested. “The kids can all carry their own bags and pretend they’re supplies. We can make up challenges for them as we go along. It could be fun.”

Well, James supposed he could talk to Dolley just as well on a treasure hunt as at a picnic table. “Okay,” he said. “Frank, help me carry the bags until we catch up.”

  


Frank wasn’t as disinterested in the journey as he let on, coming up with most of the challenges. The kids seemed to enjoy them even if they were rather simple things like walking backwards to avoid making eye contact with mermaids who turned people into stone or walking in each other’s footprints to avoid traps. In fact they were so into the game that they don’t seem to care when James and Dolley settled at a nearby picnic table.

“So what did the lifeguard say when you buried the treasure?” Dolley asked.

“He just told me that if someone else dug it up first, he wasn’t going to stop them.”

“That’s fair. I think we’ll be okay, though. Did you get enough for everyone?”

“I got as much as I could carry, but trust me, they’ll probably still fight over particular ones.”

“I hope I didn’t cause you too much trouble by indulging them with their treasure hunt.”

James shrugged. “It’s fine. They always find something to fight about regardless, and I didnt have anything else to do once I finished writing my letter.”

“Is that what you were writing?” Dolley asked. “That’s cool. Not a lot of people write letters these days.”

“My best friend and I exchange letters pretty regularly. It was his idea. He’s kind of extra, but it is kind of fun to get stuff in the mail so I don’t mind.”

“Maybe you could send me something sometime.”

That would have been a good time to ask for some kind of contact information, but James couldn’t seem to find the words to do so. After too long of a silence he said; “So are you here with your family?”

“My mom and my sister. They’re doing a spa day today, but it sounded boring to me so I just decided to have a beach day by myself.

“I wish I could have gotten some time for myself on this vacation,” James said.

“You’re not in charge of all these kids the whole time you’re here, are you?” Dolley asked. “They’re sweet, but I’m sure they’re a lot.”

“It’s only for today. My parents always set aside one kid-free day in their vacation, but even when I’m not in charge I am expected to participate in family stuff.”

Dolley smiled. “Do you think if you asked your parents they’d let you hang out tomorrow without an entourage?”

“Today’s actually our last day. We check out in the morning.”

Dolley’s smiled dropped. “Oh. That’s too bad.”

  


As predicted, the kids had a bit of trouble dividing the treasure, but with a quick run back to the water, James and Dolley were able to grab enough nice shells to appease them all. They were wrapping their hauls in their respective towels when Mrs. Madison appeared.

“There you kids are,” she said. “It’s time for dinner.”

There was some grumbling from the kids, who would rather remain playing, but they knew better than to actually argue with their mom and so said their goodbyes to Dolley.

“Oh, who’s your new friend?” Mrs. Madison asked.

“This is Dolley,” James said. “She helped me entertain everyone today.”

“Well, that’s very sweet of you, honey,” Mrs. Madison said to Dolley. “I hope they didn’t bother you too much.”

“Not at all,” Dolley assured. Turning to smile at James she said; “I had a great time today.” James smiled back automatically, then his eyes flicked over to his mother, who had a knowing smirk on her face.

“Jimmy, baby, did you still want to get your own dinner tonight?” she asked.

“Uh….” James began, having asked his mother no such thing, but trying his best to pick up the baton she was passing him. “Yes, if that’s okay.”

“It’s fine, baby. Just don’t stay out too late.”

“Aw, how come Jimmy gets to stay out?” Sarah asked.

“Because Jimmy took care of you today and deserves a break. Come on, babies. Let’s go.”

While the others made their way back to the hotel, James turned towards Dolley.

“So… did you want to go to the hot dog stand?”

  


It was a bit chilly in the evening, though the sun hadn’t yet set. James regretted ordering a cold drink with his hot dog, though he was glad that Dolley had let him treat her.

“I’m really good at finding treasure,” James had insisted. “I can handle paying for a milkshake.”

They talked about school mostly. What classes they were talking next year and where they wanted to go to college. James was thinking Princeton and Dolley was hoping to find out what the other coast was like.

“It’ll probably get lonely being away from your family and friends,” James said. “You have to make sure you stay in touch. Maybe you could write letters?”

Dolley laughed. “I’ll probably just text them. But if you wanted to write me letters, I’d gladly accept them”

James pulled a piece of paper out of his bag and ripped it in half. “Here,” he said, sliding one half over to Dolley along with a pen. “Give me your address and I’ll give you mine. And if we go away to college, we’ll trade dorm addresses.”

Dolley grinned, jotting the address down. “I’m glad you think we’ll still be writing then. That’s over a year from now.”

“It’s always good to think ahead,” James said. “I like having a plan.”

“Planning is good,” Dolley agreed, sliding the pen and paper back to James. He started to write down his own address as Dolley continued. “But sometimes I prefer to be spontaneous.”

James looked up to ask her what she meant when suddenly she crashed her lips into his. He dropped the pen in surprise, but it was just as well, since once he caught up to what was happening, he laced that hand into her hair.

“Hey, no hanky panky,” the hot dog guy said.

James pulled away from the kiss, face burning.

“This place is literally called Hanky’s Hot Dog Hut,” Dolley retorted.

“Hey, I just work here,” the guy said. “If you want to make out, try under the pier like everyone else.”

James didn’t think that was such a bad idea.


End file.
